The relation between China and Tibet has always been a complex one. In late 50's Tibet appeared to be a helpless and a very weak country in front of Chinese might however very few people know that Tibet was once a very strong military power. In fact, the history suggests that power has always been shifting hands between China and Tibet over the centuries. China finally gained its control over Tibet in 1950 after defeating Tibetan Army. Dalai Lama fled to India and established his Govt in Exile and pursued the quest for freedom by Peaceful means. In the subsequent paragraphs the History of the Tibet would be looked into for understanding the complex historical relationship of erstwhile Tibet and China.
2. Origin of Name. "According to the writings of early Tibetan scholars, the name "Bod" for Tibet had originated from the name "Pugyal" long before the Bon religion emerged. Others maintain that the name Bod was derived from Bon itself, which is the name of the early religion of the country before the introduction of Buddhism in the seventh century. Yet another group of scholars maintain that the name Bod, orally meaning "fled," was given to the country because the Indian leader Rupati and his followers fled to Tibet after involvement in war with the Pandavas. It is also stated that "Bod" has no specific meaning and is used merely as a form of identification. The Indo-Tibetan border residents refer to Tibetans as Bhotias, a name derived from "Bhota," the Sanskrit name for Tibet. The modern name of "Tibet," by which the country is known to the world, derives from the Mongolian "Thubet", the Chinese "Tufan", the Thai "Thibet," and the Arabic "Tubbat," which are found in early works". [1]
3. Era of Powerful Religious Kings (630 - 1642). In seventh century A.D, the Tibetans emerged as a formidable military power fighting their way into confines of china and demanding a Chinese princess in marriage for their king. In 635 their young king, Song Tsen Gampo, demanded and eventually received a Chinese princess as his bride. After their first invasion of China, the Tibetans extended their warlike activities in all directions with remarkable vigour like conducting an expedition into India in 648. "In 670 they annihilated the Tu-yu-hun people of the Koko Nor area; and by capturing the four main Chinese strongholds in Chinese Turkestan they cut Chinese communications with the west and laid the foundations of a Tibetan Empire in Central Asia". [2] Slowly there was a religion shift from Bon to Buddhism.
4. Tibetan Domination of Chinese. "To China itself the Tibetans were a constant source of trouble. Their armies pushed farther and farther into the territory of the T'ang Empire. Tibetan generals and ministers occupied and administered almost the whole of Kansu and the greater part of Szechwan and northern Yunnan. To win respite the Chinese had to pay a yearly tribute of 50,000 rolls of silk and in 763, when a new Emperor provoked their resentment by withholding this peace-offering, the Tibetans even captured the Chinese capital which was then at Chang'an (Sian) and set up, for a short time, the brother of the Tibetan king's Chinese wife as Emperor of China. Tibet and China, it is clear, were then two powers on an equal footing. In fact, the Tibetans were regularly the aggressors and, in general, had the upper hand." [3]
5. Shift of Religion. Slowly there was a religion shift from Bon to Buddhism. Kings were patron and supporters of Buddhism however Bon Religion was also practised simultaneously. "King, Trisong Detsen, called for the debate, and it was held at 'Samye' (Holy temple) over a two-year period (792-94). Hoshang, a Chinese monk, defended the "instantaneous system" and Kamalasila (Indian Buddhist), the "slow system." At the end of the debate, Kamalasila was declared the winner, and the King issued a proclamation establishing the new religion as the orthodox faith for Tibet. [4]
6. Collapse of Tibetan Greatness. [5] The Tibetan might disintegrated after the assassination of Lang Darma in 842. The reasons attributed to the downfall can be summarised as follows :-
(a) In particular there was constant rivalry between the heads of the noble families from which the kings took their wives, each in turn seeking to establish a dominant influence.
(b) Destruction of Buddhism by Lang Darma.
(c) Majority of the Tibetan kings died comparatively young and usually by violence so there was no central authority strong enough to hold the nobles together for long.
(d) It was easy also for a general commanding an army in the border provinces of China, far from Lhasa, to disregard the authority of the king.
(e) Eventually the rivalries of the nobles led to a split in the royal family itself Lang Darma, the last of Song Tsen Gampo's line to rule over all Tibet, died in 842 after a brief reign during which he persecuted Buddhism almost to extinction. On his death two young children were set up as claimants to the throne, each with support from a different party among the nobility. The Tibetan Kingdom then broke up into a number of disunited princedoms and, for the most part, temporarily deserted the Buddhist faith.
7. "By then the T'ang dynasty also, which had grown up together with the Tibetan Kingdom, had entered on its decline; but it outlived the Tibetan kingship by about a generation and was able in that time to recover almost all the Chinese territory which the Tibetans had occupied. The end came in 905 AD when the dynasty collapsed and there was no central government in China strong enough to maintain control over the border provinces. So Tibet and China drew apart, leaving a sort of no man's land between, them. The Tibetans retreated from their Central Asian and South Himalayan empire into their mountainous carapace bounded by the Karakoram, the Kuen Lun, and the Himalayan ranges and they never again stuck their heads outside those limits" [6] . "As for relations with China, for more than three centuries after the fall of the T'ang dynasty in 905 AD the only dealings the Chinese had with the Tibetans were courtesies or skirmishes with border tribesmen of Szechwan and Yunnan in the time of the Five Dynasties and of the Sung Emperors. There were no exchanges at all between a Chinese government and any rulers, of Tibet proper". [7]
8. Mongols and the Lamas. The Tibetan in 1207, fearing of a likely invasion submitted to the might of Genghis Khan who had also conquered most of the China. After his death in 1227 King Godan, heir of Genghis Khan came in intimate contact with Buddhist religion and was deeply impressed by Lama Sakya Pandita. His son Kublai in 1253, prostrated himself to Phagpa, one of the students of Sakya Pandita. In 1254, Kublai granted Phagpa supreme authority over Tibet. "The allegation that the Chinese Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (I368-1644) inherited claim to Tibet from their Mongol predecessors is not valid historically. The Mongols, in building an empire, first gained control over part of Tibet and then, after many years, finally conquered China. Tibet gained its independence from the Mongols in time of Changchub Gyaltsen (1302-64), and China gained hers in 1368 under the leadership of Chu Yuan-Chang." [8]
9. Rise of Dalai Lamas. Dalai Lama who is the spiritual leader of Tibetans has been the most striking feature of Tibetan state. He is the culmination of Buddhist hierarchy and nobility. The rise of Dalai Lama happened due to a great religious teacher Tsong Khapa (1357- 1417). His disciple Gedun Truppa founded the greatest Gelupa monasteries. After his death a child Sonam Gyatso was recognised as the third incarnation of Gedun Truppa. "He visited Mongolia and in 1578 converted the leading prince, Altan Khan of the Tumed, together with large numbers of his followers. The Khan gave Sonam Gyatso the title of Tale (Dalai), meaning 'Ocean', and that title was later applied retrospectively to his two predecessors" [9] . This started the era of Dalai Lamas who emerged as the face of Tibetans. As the time passed the subsequent Dalai Lama's gained more power and authority in Tibet's affairs. The 5th Dalai Lama, who was a man of great determination and force of character, drew all power into his own hands, including that of appointing the Regent. The office and title of King remained with Mongols lineal successors until 1720 but made no effort to influence the Dalai Lama's government of the country.
10. Chinese Influence and Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lamas death brought Chinese influence in Tibet. In 1717 Dzungars Mongols invaded Tibet to dethrone 6th Dalai Lama appointed controversially by the king of Tibet, Lhabzang.They killed the pretender to the Dalai Lama's throne, to the joy of the Tibetan people, but subsequently began to ransack and loot monasteries around Lhasa. In 1720, Emperor K'ang Hsi (1661-1722) sent a strong army which crushed the Dzungars. This also helped in restoration of Seventh Dalai Lama; Kesang Gyatso (1708-1757) to Lhasa and thus a new chapter started of Chinese influence in Tibet. This also established military presence of Munchu Empire in Lhasa. In 1728 Chinese engineered the removal of 7th Dalai Lama and also established Panchen Lama as counterweight to Dalai Lama which was never recognised by Lhasa. Chinese also appointed Head of the administration "Phola" as designated king of Tibet in 1740.
11. Gurkha and Dogra War. Gurkhas invaded Tibet in 1788 and for the fourth time in 75 years Chinese army protected Tibet by driving Gurkhas out. However there has been always a difference in opinion about the same between Chinese and Tibetans as Tibetan claim that, it was the Tibetan forces which defeated Ghurkhas and Dogras and not Chinese. The evidence shows that the substance of Chinese authority in Tibet was in practice no greater than it had been before. Indeed, in one very important respect the foundation of the connection between the two countries was weakened. "The encroachments of the West in China itself, leading to the Anglo Chinese war of 1840, left the Emperor with no strength to fulfil the function of Protector as had been done in 1792. A Dogra invasion of West Tibet in 1841 was repelled by a force which was purely Tibetan, although it has sometimes been wrongly described as 'Chinese'. In 1855 the Gurkhas, without regard for the oath they had taken to the Emperor in 1792, again invaded Tibet. This time there was no imperial army to protect the Tibetans. They were defeated and had to make a humiliating treaty". [10]
12. Influence of Britishers and Russians. In late 18th century, the British started showing interest in Tibet with an intention of expanding their rule towards North and increase their trade with Tibet, similarly Russia was also eying on Tibet as a part of their expansionism policy. Tibetan felt that if they did not resist British efforts to gain access to Tibet, they like other Himalayan Kingdom states would also lose their independence. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama favoured an independent course. This policy of the Thirteen Dalai Lama made Britishers insecure as they feared that Russians might have an upper hand in Tibet and thus might dominate Central Asia. In 1903, the British invaded Tibet, after their negotiations and initiative of establishing a trade and border treaty with Beijing failed due to its rejection from Tibetans. This for the first time Manchu Emperor did not came for Tibet's help. The victory over Tibet gave control of Tibet's affairs to British.
13. Chinese Invasion of Tibet. Tibetans were again invaded in 1910 to depose the Dalai Lama. For the first time in history the Tibetans appealed to the outside world for help against the Chinese. Dalai Lama fled to India. The invasion of 1910 was a turning point in the relations between China and Tibet and marks a break with previous Chinese policy. This was the first Chinese army to reach Lhasa against the will of the Tibetans. "The expedition of I720, 1728, 1750, and 1792 all came to restore order and were not opposed by Tibetans. After each expedition there had been some reorganization of Chinese relations with the Tibetan Government but, except for a brief period in 1720, there had been no question of taking over the administration." [11]
14. Independence Declaration. The Chinese new republican government announced that it marked the end of Munchu Empire in 1911 and it also led to expulsion of Chinese troops from Lhasa by Tibetans. The Dalai Lama returned to Tibet in 1912.China's new revolutionary government issued a formal apology to the Dalai Lama for the Qing Dynasty's insults, and offered to reinstate him. Thubten Gyatso refused, stating that he had no interest in the Chinese offer. The Dalai Lama took control of Tibet's internal and external governance in 1913, negotiating directly with foreign powers, and reforming Tibet's judicial, penal, and educational systems.
15. Simla Convention (1914). In 1914 various representatives of China, Great Britain and Tibet met in Simla to discuss a boundary treaty. The Simla Convention established China's control over Inner Tibet and control of Outer Tibet by Dalai Lama. Both Britain and China agreed to respect the territorial integrity of Tibet and refrain from meddling in the administration of Outer Tibet. China walked out of the conference without signing the treaty after Britain laid claim to the Tawang area of southern Tibet, which is now part of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Tibet and Britain both went ahead and signed the treaty. China has always maintained that it never ratified the treaty, therefore never agreed to India's rights in Tawang and also went to war with India in 1962 over this area. The boundary disagreement still has not been resolved.
16. Invasion by PRC and Unrest in Tibet. Chinese history from 1916 to 1938 witnessed different military factions fighting to fill the power void left by the fall down of the Qing Dynasty till final Communist victory in 1949.Chinese busy in their internal affairs showed little interest in Tibet. The 13th Dalai Lama ruled free Tibet in peace until his death in 1933. Post Thubten Gyatso's demise, the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama was discovered in Amdo (1935). A stable government of PRC for the first time in decades decided to claim China's right to rule over Tibet and thus People Liberation Army(PLA) invaded Tibet In 1950. After the defeat of Tibet's weak and small army, China forced "Seventeen Point Agreement" and claimed Tibet as an autonomous region of the PRC. Representatives of the Dalai Lama's government endorsed the agreement under pressure. PRC immediately started their process of robbing power base of rich and Buddhism within Tibetan social order. Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama shifted to Lhasa in 1937 and in 1959, he was forced into exile in India by Chinese.
Courtsey : Study Paper : Tibet -China Conflict by Elliot Sperling. [12]
